6. Pass . . . over—Escape from Tyre to your colonies as Tarshish (compare :-). The Tyrians fled to Carthage and elsewhere, both at the siege under Nebuchadnezzar and that under Alexander. read more
Isaiah advised refugees to flee from Tyre to Tarshish. How the course of Tyre’s fate would change! She had for centuries been a world power, not as an empire but as a broker of international trade. Her ambitions were not political, to rule others, but commercial, to grow rich. As such, Tyre symbolizes one aspect of worldly endeavor. read more
The Doom of TyreTyre was a great mercantile centre of the ancient world, and at the time of the Hebrew monarchy chief state of Phœnicia, the parent of many colonies, and mistress of the Mediterranean. It is uncertain what siege of Tyre is here referred to; but see on Isaiah 23:13.1-5. The news of the fall of Tyre is spread. 6-9. Tyre must take refuge in her distant colonies, for her doom is purposed by Jehovah. 10-14. But even her colonies will afford no refuge, for the power of Phœnicia will... read more
(6) Pass ye over to Tarshish . . .—The words have the ring of a keen irony. The Tyrians are told to go to Tarshish, the extreme point of their commerce; not, as before, to bring back their wealth, but to seek safety there as exiles. No nearer asylum would give them safety. So, in the siege of Tyre by Alexander the Great, the Tyrians sent their old men, women, and children to Carthage (Diod. Sic. xvii. 41). So Layard (Nineveh, plate 71) represents enemies of the Assyrians taking refuge in ships... read more
CHAPTER XVIIITYRE; OR, THE MERCENARY SPIRIT702 B.C.Isaiah 23:1-18THE task, which was laid upon the religion of Israel while Isaiah was its prophet, was the task, as we have often told ourselves, of facing the world’s forces, and, of explaining how they were to be led captive and contributory to the religion of the true God. And we have already seen Isaiah accounting for the largest of these forces: the Assyrian. But besides Assyria, that military empire, there was another power in the world,... read more
CHAPTER 23 The Burden of Tyre 1. Tyre’s great disaster (Isaiah 23:1-5 ) 2. The complete overthrow (Isaiah 23:6-14 ) 3. Tyre’s future restoration and degradation (Isaiah 23:15-18 ) Tyre typifies the commercial expansion and glory of the world. Behind this commercial glory stands Satan, the god of this age. Read Ezekiel 28:11-19 . Nebuchadnezzar carried out judgment upon Tyre Ezekiel 29:17-21 . A revival of Tyre is also predicted. We call attention to a statement in the beautiful... read more
23:6 Pass ye over to {l} Tarshish; wail, ye inhabitants of the isle.(l) Tyrus wills other merchants to go to Cilicia, and to come no more there. read more
JUDGMENT ON GENTILE NATIONS This is a long lesson to read, but the study put upon it need not be proportioned to its length. There is a sameness in the chapters, and their contents are not unlike what we reviewed in the preceding lesson. Note the names of the nations and their contiguity to God’s chosen people. They have come in contact with their history again and again, which is why they are singled out for special mention. It will be well here to review what was said about these Gentile... read more
Inner History Isaiah 23:0 The whole chapter relates to the destiny of Tyre. History has confirmed the prophecy to the letter. Jesus Christ himself referred to the destiny of Tyre and Sidon. The Tarshish of this chapter is Spain. Chittim is the island of Cyprus. The word "merchant" is the same word that is rendered in other places "Canaanite." The Canaanites were the most energetic commercial men of their time. To be a merchant was to be a Canaanite; to be a Canaanite was to be a merchant,... read more
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Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Isaiah 23:6-7
Isaiah 23:6-7. Pass ye over to Tarshish— The prophet now turns his discourse to Tyre itself; and commands or exhorts such of the inhabitants, not of insular Tyre only, but of the whole maritime coast subject to the dominion of Tyre, as should remain from this overthrow, to go to Tartessus or Gades, that there they might deplore the fate of their city, and mutually lament its destruction with those who would feel their grief, as deriving their original from the same city. Whenever the prophets... read more